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President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said the government is committed to ensuring that all Ghanaians, regardless of tribe, religion, location or identity, have access to affordable and reliable voice and data connectivity.
He said that to this end, the Ministry of Communications and the Ghana Investment Fund for Electric Communications (GIFEC) in partnership with MTN, Vodafone and Huawei are implementing a rural telephony project to provide data and voice connectivity to the sites of rural telephony of 2016.
The president spoke at the launch of the Rural Telephony Project in the New Edubiase district in the Ashanti region to begin commissioning the Rural Star 2016 sites in Ghana.
The government, through the Ministry of Communications and GIFEC, partnered with China National Technical Imp. & Exp. Corp and Huawei Technologies Ghana for the launch.
He said the project was strategically located in underserved and underserved communities across the country.
The sites will provide network coverage to more than 300,000 communities and provide the opportunity for more than three million people to connect with family and friends, while allowing these communities access to social, economic, health and educational commitments.
The project will use Huawei’s novel Rural Star technology, which has been customized for Ghana through the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Communications and partners.
The cost-effective solution that will save the government up to 70 percent of the cost of traditional cell sites will provide voice and data services to more than 3.4 million people in underserved and underserved communities.
It will expand the national mobile communication coverage from 83% to 95% to greatly accelerate local economic development while improving people’s livelihoods.
The president commended Huawei’s management for the company’s contribution to the development of ICT in Ghana, especially during the recent COVID-19 pandemic and now the localized RuralStar solution.
He also commended partners and implementers saying; “I congratulate everyone who has contributed to making this project a reality, especially the Ministries of Communications and Finance, GIFEC, NCA, NITA, GRA, MTN, VDF and Huawei Technologies.
Mr. Ursula Owusu- Ekuful, the Minister of Communications, said that no one, regardless of their financial, economic, social situation or location, should be deprived of access to quality telephone services.
She said with this that the government has a great interest in making sure the project is delivered successfully and that they intend to roll out 1000 sites by December.
“I must congratulate GIFEC, Huawei and the mobile network operators for working together to carry out this project,” he said.
He said that, as legislators, the Ministry will continue to provide leadership in the implementation of solutions and programs to facilitate rural connectivity.
Tommy Zhou, Managing Director of Huawei Ghana, said that currently, the RuralStar Solution was connecting numerous underserved communities, empowering them socially and economically.
He said the solution has also been used commercially by more than 110 mobile networks around the world, serving a population of more than 40 million.
He said the addition of local content reiterates the fact that Ghana and Africa as a whole have great potential in innovative technology and Ghanaians could be very proud.
He congratulated the government, the Ministry of Communications and GIFEC for the leadership demonstration to demonstrate Ghana’s leadership in digitization in the Sub-Saharan Africa region.
Selorm Adadevoh, Executive Director of MTNA Ghana, reiterated MTN’s commitment to expanding coverage for all.
He said there was “hunger” for connectivity and access to basic voice and data services and this has been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic. “
“MTN is ready to answer the call, as the telecommunications giant has invested $ 300 million to expand and upgrade its network, including the deployment of 400 rural sites based on Huawei’s RuralStar technology.
GIFEC, through the Rural Telephony Project, has deployed 400 rural star sites in more than 2,000 rural communities, providing mobile network coverage to more than 1,200,000 people in Ghana.
Currently, Rural Star has been used commercially in more than 110 countries around the world, serving a population of more than 40 million.
Source: GNA
